As a tradition dating back thousands of years, memorialization allows survivors to honor their deceased loved ones, preserve a family's heritage, and create a bond between generations. With its origin dating back to the early Stone Age in roughly 3000 B.C., the practice of cremation migrated throughout cultures over the world. Early Christian and Jewish cultures rejected this method of memorialization in favor of earth burial by about 400 A.D. Over the next 1500 years, earth burial dominated the method survivors chose to remember the deceased.
Cremation was revived in the latter half of the 19th century when a dependable chamber to contain cremated remains was created by Professor Brunetti in Italy. After the disclosure of Professor Brunetti's chamber at the 1873 Vienna Exposition, cremation quickly regained popularity in both Europe and North America. With increased concern for health conditions around cemeteries and the ever-increasing costs of earth burials, cremation has become an increasingly popular alternative for the memorialization of the deceased. By 1999, over 25% of all deaths in the United States resulted in cremation of the corpse. As a result of the continually increasing costs, decreasing burial space, and ongoing health concerns, a number of countries and states now mandate cremation as the only option for the memorialization of the deceased.
Cremation presents many options for the family and friends of the deceased. Urns may be placed in a columbarium niche which provides a recessed portion in a wall designed to contain urns. Memorial parks offer designated space for the internment of cremated remains. Most cemeteries also offer patrons the option of space specifically designed for the internment of cremated remains. Many cemeteries will also allow cremated remains to be memorialized in pre-purchased family plots. Other families choose to scatter the ashes of their deceased loved one. Still others opt to remember their loved one by displaying a memorial containing cremated ashes in their homes.
With so many options for creating a unique tribute to the deceased, a strong need exists for tasteful, versatile, and personal memorialization systems to contain cremated remains. This need and others which will become apparent upon consideration of the disclosure herein are met by the present invention.